Poor fellows, film Venice 2023: Plot, novel

Vit’s finally revealed poor creatures, a film by Yorgos Lanthimos with Emma Stone in competition at the Venice Film Festival. But who is Bella, the main character, and what does she have to do with history and literature?

The film was presented in competition at the Venice Film Festival. poor creatures From Yorgos Lanthimos will hit theaters on October 12 after Alasdair Gray’s novel returns to bookstores Safar Publishing in a new version with a translation by Sarah Caraffini, a foreword by Professor Enrico Terrinoni and illustrations by Alasdair Gray himself.

“Alastair Gray’s novel is something very surprising and complex because of the themes, the humor, the complexity of its characters and its language,” said Lanthimos. Gray was also an artist and personally made the drawings that accompany the novel. In general, it was a story about the freedom of a woman in society. Amazing and full of humor, the novel impressed the screenwriter with the topics that it touched upon: gender, identity and Scottish nationalism. “But although it was rich in philosophy and politics, it was extremely interesting.”

“My father and Yorgos met in Glasgow,” she recalled. Andrew Gray, son of the late writer. “Together they walked around the city, visited places associated with the novel, and talked a lot. My father sold the rights to his work because he was impressed by the fact that Lanthimos took the time to get to know him personally and talk to him during the walk, which he most enjoyed doing.”

Plot of the film

Movie poor creatures tells the story of Bella coming of age, who is brought back to life by surgeon Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). “After living locked up in Baxter’s house with only student Max McCandles (Rami Youssef) present, Bella travels to Lisbon on a romantic trip with her lover Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo),” commented the writer. Tony McNamara.

“There is a constant desire on the ship to escape this man (self-centered and misogynistic) and his toxic masculinity. And, enchanted by the meeting on the ship with Martha (Hanna Schigulla) and her independence, she begins to travel the world: the cynical Harry Astley (Jerrod Carmichael) takes her to Alexandria, a city that for Bella personifies her youth, the moment when he sees the world as messy place. On the other hand, Paris is a city where he explores his sexuality, going as far as he can before returning home thanks to meeting Sweeney (Catherine Hunter), a brothel owner.”

Back home, as Bella struggles to find her place in the world and her happiness, meeting Alfred Blessington (Christopher Abbott) will bring her entire history to the surface, as will Dr. Baxter’s feelings for Felicity (Margaret Qualley), his new Bella. are getting clearer and clearer,” McNamara concluded.

Sexy for Bella

Bella has never been told that there is anything wrong with enjoying sex or being free to do whatever she wants, when she wants. “In the US, a different mentality about sex than in Europe: Americans can see different types of violence and atrocities, but they are shocked by sex or nudity, while for Yorgos it’s the other way around,” the hero emphasized. Emma Stone.

“Bella’s portrayal of female sexuality is more in line with the situation today than it was 30 years ago,” the actress continued. “She is able to explore sex without guilt, which makes her a brave, free, modern hero who doesn’t worry about what others won’t like. Free from social constraints, she has a childish vision of the world: a fascinating reminder of purity and innocence.”

Movie poor creatures he also explores issues related to gender differences. “It’s a poignant satire of men and their patriarchal, male-dominated vision of women,” McNamara said. “This is a cry for the liberation of a woman who grew up in a society dominated by men and fearful of women,” echoed actor Willem Dafoe.

But apart from Gray’s novel, the film script poor creatures draws on various mythologies and plot devices, mixing them into an incredibly original and intoxicating cocktail. Lanthimos and McNamara were actually also interested in creating an alternate version of history. Frankensteinreversing the classic story and making the “monster” a very insightful and beautiful woman whose love interests would-be monsters.

But who was (really) Belle?

Movie poor creatures tells the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman found in the cold waters of the Clyde in Late Victorian Glasgow and brought back to life by the little-known experiments of Godwin Baxter, the tortured genius of surgery. But who really was Bella? It is not easy to give an answer, because Bella is much more than the woman she was. An object of insane love passions, we will see how it passes its era, passing through austere salons, decadent casinos and Parisian brothels with the amazement of those who for the first time see the world in its monstrous madness and embody – with the same desire that excites when it passes – the highest human ideals never ceasing to cause scandal to the greatest outrage of all: live a radically free existence

.

However, it is interesting to note that in the preface to the novel published by Safara, Professor Enrico Terrinoni try to trace Bella’s personality by finding connections, similarities and differences with The Divine Comedy Dante Frankenstein Mary Shelley andUlysses James Joyce (where in the section Circe there really is a character named Bella). But what is surprising is how Terrinoni traces his figure back to Brynhild Paulsdatter Størset, who actually existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who arrived from Sweden on American soil and took the name Belle Gunness. , the infamous serial killer, also known as the Black Widow of La Porta.

“He emigrated to the United States in 1881,” writes Terrinoni. “She settled in Chicago and married a certain Sorenson, with whom she had four children. Two of them, along with her husband, died under mysterious circumstances. It is suspected that Belle poisoned them, but she was never charged with the crime. However, he left Chicago and moved to La Porte, Indiana. Here he bought a farm and worked hard to find new suitors. His strategy was always the same: he would lure rich people to the farm, then kill them and bury their bodies in a pigsty or chicken coop. The goal was to cash in on the life insurance policies received by the victims.”

After a 1908 fire on her farm, Belle mysteriously disappeared. “Years of silence followed until 1931, when a woman named Esther Carlson was arrested in Los Angeles for poisoning a man. The fingerprints suggested that it was actually Belle Gunness. The hypothesis was that she assumed the identity of Mrs. Carlson after her and her husband’s murder.